With visitor and exhibitor numbers reaching higher than ever before, it's no wonder EMO Hannover organisers are celebrating.
The world’s largest international trade fair, EMO Hannover, came to a close at the weekend and when it comes to measuring the event’s success, let the numbers do the talking.
Throughout the six days of the world’s largest international trade fair, more than 2100 exhibitors from 43 countries put their wares and innovations on display for just under 145,000 trade visitors from 100 different countries.
EMO General Commissioner Carl Martin Welcker said foreign visitors numbered more than 50,000, or one in three. He said attendance from Europe was up markedly.
“European industry is rebounding, and keen on investing in manufacturing technology,” Welcker said.
Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Russia topped the attendance figures for the European continent. By a very wide margin, China accounted for the largest number of visitors from Asia, followed by Japan, Taiwan and India.
According to a visitor survey, one out of every two attendees had a managerial status, with the authority to make purchasing decisions for their organisations. They reported their main motivation in attending as wanting to expand and modernise their production machinery. One out of every five visitors reported placing an order at the show. A similar number, at 20 percent, intended to finalise purchases after the event, with the figure being double in the case of customers from abroad.
Mr Welcker said several high-volume deals were struck at the event and that exhibitors were anticipating brisk after-show sales. He said among all visitors with firm investment plans, each placed between four and five orders during their time at EMO. This figure was even higher than for the previous event two years ago, which took place in the midst of an economic downturn.
The next EMO will take place in Milan in 2015.
